If you could sign any NBA player to play for the Red Sox, who would it be and why?

[StephenCurry30]

With the Yankees trading for Seahawks QB Russell Wilson, I was thinking, if we can sign/trade for NFL players, why not look to acquire some NBA players? If this was a possibility who would be the guy we'd target in the NBA? If we could acquire John Wall or Russell Westbrook as a pinch runner in playoffs, they would be dynamic once we get them some reps to read pitchers and steal bases. I don't expect any of them to hit at an MLB level, so those two guys would be interesting choices as they have an elite skill set. If I was going to be on any player being successful though, I would bet on the obvious choice, Lebron James. Freak of Nature athlete, high IQ on and off the court, I bet if he started playing younger, he could've succeeded in baseball. He was already an elite NFL/NBA talent so there was no need for a 3rd major sport, but I bet he could've.

Here are some references to how dominate he is in his sport
https://www.fangraphs.com/blogs/lets...-lebron-james/

What say you talksox? which nba player would you want?

[harmony]

With the Yankees trading for Seahawks QB Russell Wilson, I was thinking, if we can sign/trade for NFL players, why not look to acquire some NBA players? If this was a possibility who would be the guy we'd target in the NBA? If we could acquire John Wall or Russell Westbrook as a pinch runner in playoffs, they would be dynamic once we get them some reps to read pitchers and steal bases. I don't expect any of them to hit at an MLB level, so those two guys would be interesting choices as they have an elite skill set. If I was going to be on any player being successful though, I would bet on the obvious choice, Lebron James. Freak of Nature athlete, high IQ on and off the court, I bet if he started playing younger, he could've succeeded in baseball. He was already an elite NFL/NBA talent so there was no need for a 3rd major sport, but I bet he could've.

Here are some references to how dominate he is in his sport
https://www.fangraphs.com/blogs/lets...-lebron-james/

What say you talksox? which nba player would you want?

Portland Trail Blazer shooting guard Pat Connaughton out of St. John's Preparatory School in Danvers, Massachusetts.

The Baltimore Orioles drafted the 6-foot-5, 215-pound Connaughton as a pitcher out of the University of Notre Dame in the fourth round of the June 2014 draft:

https://www.baseball-reference.com/r...d=connau000pat

Connaughton has averaged 6.2 points a game off the bench this year for the Trail Blazers:

http://www.espn.com/video/clip?id=22...espnapi_public

I saw Connaughton throw out the first pitch at a Hillsboro Hops game in the short-season Northwest League.

[Jasonbay44]

Portland Trail Blazer shooting guard Pat Connaughton out of St. John's Preparatory School in Danvers, Massachusetts.

The Baltimore Orioles drafted the 6-foot-5, 215-pound Connaughton as a pitcher out of the University of Notre Dame in the fourth round of the June 2014 draft:

https://www.baseball-reference.com/r...d=connau000pat

Connaughton has averaged 6.2 points a game off the bench this year for the Trail Blazers:

http://www.espn.com/video/clip?id=22...espnapi_public

Notre Dame seems to pretty often have multi-sports stars who could've gone pro in numerous sports. Golden Tate, Jeff Samardzija, Connaughton, Torii Hunter Jr., Tom Zbikowski, etc. Pretty impressive.

As for the thread, I'd pick a guy like Connaughton, who could've gone pro in baseball but chose basketball. I'm not sure I can think of any others at the moment. All the names I'm thinking of are long retired, Charlie Ward, Danny Ainge, etc.

[notin]

Connaughton was my first thought, too. Although I'm sure other power forwards can be converted to power arms, much like the Reds did with Amir Garrett.

Why would anyone want Russell Westbrook as a pinch runner? I'm 100% certain I can find an actual baseball player who is as fast or (more likely) faster than Westbrook and posseses actual baseball skills as well. If Clay Buchholz - a former wide receiver recruit at Notre Dame and U Texas - taught us anything, it was that speed alone does not make a good baserunner....

[Jasonbay44]

Connaughton was my first thought, too. Although I'm sure other power forwards can be converted to power arms, much like the Reds did with Amir Garrett.

Why would anyone want Russell Westbrook as a pinch runner? I'm 100% certain I can find an actual baseball player who is as fast or (more likely) faster than Westbrook and posseses actual baseball skills as well. If Clay Buchholz - a former wide receiver recruit at Notre Dame and U Texas - taught us anything, it was that speed alone does not make a good baserunner....

Yeah, I'm not sure what Westbrook would really bring that Quintin Berry doesn't, aside from his name.

[Bellhorn04]

As Michael Jordan demonstrated, and learned, no matter how superb an athlete you are, hitting high-level pitching is really freaking hard.

[notin]

Yeah, I'm not sure what Westbrook would really bring that Quintin Berry doesn't, aside from his name.

An insanely high salary?

[harmony]

Notre Dame seems to pretty often have multi-sports stars who could've gone pro in numerous sports. Golden Tate, Jeff Samardzija, Connaughton, Torii Hunter Jr., Tom Zbikowski, etc. Pretty impressive.

As for the thread, I'd pick a guy like Connaughton, who could've gone pro in baseball but chose basketball. I'm not sure I can think of any others at the moment. All the names I'm thinking of are long retired, Charlie Ward, Danny Ainge, etc.

Betweem 1996 and 2011 Washington State product Mark Hendrickson played parts of four NBA seasons as a power forward and parts of 10 MLB seasons as a towering 6-foot-9 pitcher:

https://www.basketball-reference.com...hendrma01.html

https://www.baseball-reference.com/p...endrma01.shtml

[notin]

HErickson is one of many to play both sports professionally. Before Danny Ainge was an all star shooting guard, he was a horrible second baseman in Toronto. Gene Conley played for the Celtics and pitched for the Red Sox. Before switching to acting, Chuck Connors played for the Celtics and the Dodgers.

The list goes on and on. Which is why a straight up basketball player would never be on my radar. ...

[mvp 78]

Sign Danny Ainge and make him the GM.

[A Red Sox fan named Hugh]

If we're talking about an NBA player being equally good at baseball I'd choose Lebron James in a heartbeat, over and over again. The irony is I would never want him on my NBA team but I think his selfless, all around, star powered personality would be a better fit for baseball believe it or not.

Lebron James might be that guy who passes the ball in the 4th quarter and is a little less reluctant to take over a game like other elite players but the baseball manifestation of James to me is a guy who does it all. A guy who can hit .300, hit 30 HR's, steal 30 bases, and play elite defense. And his primadona attitude is the kinda attitude baseball might need right now and believe me.....I'm the biggest James hater out there.

On the other hand, he might be demanding 40 million a year.

[Emp9]

I think Ainge is a good choice. But if I’m taking a current NBA player who’s skills may or may not play at all in MLB... I’ll take Greek Freak.

[Bellhorn04]

If we're talking about an NBA player being equally good at baseball I'd choose Lebron James in a heartbeat, over and over again. The irony is I would never want him on my NBA team but I think his selfless, all around, star powered personality would be a better fit for baseball believe it or not.

Lebron James might be that guy who passes the ball in the 4th quarter and is a little less reluctant to take over a game like other elite players but the baseball manifestation of James to me is a guy who does it all. A guy who can hit .300, hit 30 HR's, steal 30 bases, and play elite defense. And his primadona attitude is the kinda attitude baseball might need right now and believe me.....I'm the biggest James hater out there.

On the other hand, he might be demanding 40 million a year.

Can LeBron hit real pitchers any better than MJ could is the question.

[notin]

Can LeBron hit real pitchers any better than MJ could is the question.

Exactly.

I wouldn't sign any basketball player for an MLB team in the same way I wouldn't try fill a roster spot on an NBA team with a baseball player. ..

[A Red Sox fan named Hugh]

Can LeBron hit real pitchers any better than MJ could is the question.

From a statistical perspective, you could say Lebron James. He has a slightly higher FG% and FG3%, slightly lower PPG, more rebounds and assists.

This is obviously an insanely objective thought experiment so I'm kinda playing two different angles here. Assuming how a players skill sets would look as a baseball player opposed to an NBA player, and I'm also looking at this from the perspective that baseball is much less dependent on one player opposed to basketball. Arguably a pitcher can have the same impact on a game as one NBA player (perhaps even more) but a starter will only go every 5 days for you. I'd take the team player who all across the board looks like a 5 tool, sefless player.

But if we really want to dive deep into this, you could argue Jordan would be the better player for your team in the playoffs. He'd be like......David Ortiz 2013.